The possible problems and dangers of applying Clintonesque Triangulation 2.0* in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Even before I read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War; I suspected that a strategy that worked in one situation, and under certain conditions; could in fact invite disaster when applied in a very different situation, having very different conditions. In this life in general, and political life in particular; there is always that “X” factor (unknown, not anticipated and outside of your control.) That can derail the path to any inevitability. There is a danger here that the unexpected could actually occur. Just ask Thad Cochran’s Tea party opponent in Mississippi; where Black folks voted for a Republican in 2014, and in Mississippi of all places! Mr. Obama has a huge fan and support base, who see much of his problems being artificially created by a Republican-Tea Party’s commitment to undermine and disrupt any effort he attempts to achieve, no matter how worthy and beneficial to the nation. Any potential candidate who cynically places distance between the president and themselves, by holding the coats of that frothing right-wing mob; could create a feeling of disinterest on the part of progressive democrats for that candidate’s 2016 presidential campaign. There is also the necessary huge fundraising effort that is needed to compete in a modern era presidential campaign; I don’t expect those right-wing rock throwers to write any checks for a candidate Clinton. Perhaps the Mississippi experience achieved another goal; and that is to discourage the belief among Democrats that they can take their longest, most loyal and strongest supporters for granted; simply because they believe that: “They have nowhere else to go”. If the name of the game is (get your voters to) “turn-out”; anything that could dampen the enthusiasm of your core voters is a dangerous strategy. Further, there is also the possibility that the average voter, democratic or otherwise, may view loyalty as a very desirable trait in a potential candidate or leader. Finally, this is a learning curve problem; for didn’t we go through the: “pitfalls of inevitability in 2008?” Perhaps the best advice for a “front-runner” to employ is in fact: “don’t do stupid stuff”… Maybe the not so stupid stuff is for the Democrats to run as a Democrats; after all it’s not like the Republicans are “busting loose” in the polls!

*“Triangulation is a name given to a political act in which a candidate in a traditional continuum-based political system tries to position him or herself outside of the continuum, or perfectly balanced in the middle. It is a relatively recent phenomenon on a large-scale, although it has been used to some extent for as long as modern politics have existed”…wiseGeek